Responsibility to build the house of Allah

My fellow Muslimin,
This Friday, from the mimbar, I call on myself and all of you who are loved by Allah to seize the opportunity on this day that is full of barakah, as we pray in this sacred house of Allah, to continue to serve Allah with devotion. Let us fulfill all Allah’s commands, let us leave behind all Allah forbids as quickly as we can.

My brothers in Islam,
When we learn about the history of Rasulullah and reflect on verses of the Al-Quran and hadiths of Rasulullah we will find that one of the main teachings of Islam is building ties of brotherhood. Islam is a universal religion that can be accepted by every race found on this earth. It is a religion that is not limited by climate or region.
Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ
وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاء فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىَ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
“O you who believe! Observe your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as those who have surrendered (to Him); And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah (the religion of Islam), and do not separate. And remember Allah’s favour to you: how you were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that you became as brothers by His grace; and (how) you were upon the brink of Hellfire, and He did save you from it. Thus Allah makes clear His revelations to you, that you may be guided, and there may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they who are successful.” (Aali Imran: 102,103,104)

Rasulullah once said in a hadith recorded by Abu Hurairah :
“Do not carry ill-will, trick or hate one another, and do not be enemies and do not break promises in business dealings. Be servants of God who are brothers. A Muslim is a brother to all Muslims. He cannot betray him, let him to be abused, lie to him or shame him. Taqwa comes from here – said the Prophet saw as he pointed to his heart three times. He who shames his Muslim brother is evil. A Muslim is forbidden to shed the blood, destroy the properties and lower the honour of another Muslim.”

My brothers in Islam,
From the verse and Hadith just now, it is clear that unity and brotherhood with other Muslims is important to our lives. With the unity of Muslims we are able to come together to solve whatever shape of problems we face. With ukhuwwah or brotherhood, Muslims can go far and achieve excellence similar to the excellence of the generation living under the leadership of Rasulullah . That is why, creating unity and building ties of brotherhood is a must for each Muslim. This is based on the fiqh approach that if a thing cannot perfectly fulfill an obligation, then that thing also becomes a duty. Hence, whatever that contributes to unity and Islamic brotherhood is a must for us to carry out.

My dear brothers in Islam,
One thing that contributes to unity is the building of a mosque. The mosque in Islam is a symbol of unity and progress of the ummah. Our own history proves that mosque building is a basic foundation in forging the unity of the Muslim community. The mosque has always been an important foundation in efforts to create unity of the ummah. That is why Rasulullah turned down the offer to be king while preaching in Makkah. Even though Masjidil Haram already existed in Makkah at that time, the function of the mosque as a means to unite the ummah could not be carried out. But when he migrated and arrived in Madinah, one of the first things that he did was to build a mosque. After that, he was able to unite the tribes of Muhajirin and Ansar. At the same time, the azan and congregational prayers were established. This means that the main function of the mosque is to build unity among Muslims when they serve Allah as his servants. Without the mosque which gathers Muslims together, the ukhuwwah or brotherhood that is a religious duty cannot be achieved. Without the mosque, Muslims cannot unite.
My brothers in Islam,

We need to realize the importance of providing the means to make it possible for us as Muslims to gather together, to get to know one another, to together seek knowledge, to together move the ummah to achieve excellence while increasing our iman and taqwa. That is why building a mosque is our shared responsibility. Without it, we cannot unite, we cannot be one. Rasulullah has said:

“If there is a village where each person does not perform congregational prayers, they will be controlled by shaitan. Perform congregational prayer for the wolf will only eat the goat when it is away from his pack.”

My fellow Muslimin,
As you know, we Muslims in the Hamilton and Stoney Creek are blessed to be the ones who are chosen by Allah s.w.t. to build the new Islamic centre. We need a mosque to bring to life our religious activities and unity. The mosque will be more than 8,000 square feet. It will provide the latest facilities to jemaah so that we are able to carry out our religious duties in comfort. We hope that our Mosque will also be the symbol of the unity of Muslims in the Hamilton and Stoney Creek area ,insha Allah.

From today, my dear brothers, let us take on the responsibility to donate generously to build new Islamic centre which will need lot of money to meet its building costs. By making our contributions together, with full sincerity, I am sure we will be able to feel the spirit of ukhuwwah or brotherhood between us. Between us, we can make efforts to build new Masjid a house of Allah so that it can be used as soon as possible, insha Allah.
This Friday, I call on all jemaah loved by Allah, to fulfill this responsibility. Our responsibility is to build ‘Allah’s house’. With it, insha Allah, the unity of the Muslim community can exist, religious knowledge can be spread and we can serve Allah as His servants. Rasulullah saw said:

“Whoever builds for Allah a mosque (in this world), Allah will build for him a palace in paradise.”
May we be among the Muslims in this group, inshaAllah.

My dear brothers in Islam!
Tomorrow, insha Allah, at Armenian community centre, 191 Barton Street we will have fund raising dinner for our Masjid.
Remember dear Brothers, whatever you give, you are giving a loan to Allah, and He will multiply your loan to become your profit.
We hope and pray that everyone shares the responsibility put on his shoulders. We hope and pray that Allah accept our humble efforts and make our vision a reality.
Your humble act of charity any amount of donation will help us to complete this project in the name of Allah, and to benefit for all of us.